Intro
In starting this new blog, I should probably spend some time
talking about my goals with the blog. I have a variety of creative endeavors I
am often working on and I enjoy having some responsibility to an audience,
albeit a very small one. Whether anyone is reading this or not, I like having
the sense that I need to create something for the next post to be worthwhile. Before
I dive too far into a particular project just yet I want use this post to tell
you about a little experiment I am trying that I believe will make even more
projects possible.
I intend to switch my current sleeping pattern from the
standard monophasic (single phase/8-hour typical) to a polyphasic pattern of my
choosing. In fact, I don’t just intend to do this, as of today, I have already
started it!
Polyphasic Sleeping
First, let me explain polyphasic sleeping and then I can answer
the immediate question of “WHY?” that popped into your head. Basically, polyphasic
sleeping is when you sleep multiple times throughout the day with the result
that you can sleep fewer total hours than the standard 8. This is a well-documented
experiment by the U.S. military, NASA and even an episode of Seinfeld entitled “The
Friar’s Club” in which Kramer attempts this form of sleep with disastrous consequences.
Some variation of this sleeping pattern has also been reportedly used by
Leonardo Da Vinci, Buckminster Fuller, Napoleon, Thomas Jefferson, Ben
Franklin, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla just to name a
few. However, not many living people attempt this pattern primarily because it
disrupts your daily routine a bit and it is difficult to socially align your
life to the lives of almost everyone around you.
The particular type of polyphasic sleep that I am trying is
often called the “Everyman.” It seems like the easiest one to attempt first and
the thing I like about it is that it still incorporates REM sleep which none of
the other polyphasic patterns do. It has one single 3-hour REM sleep time
followed by three evenly spaced 30-minute naps. The result is about 4.5 hours
of sleep instead of 8. It sounds crazy but the Uberman has a total of only 2 hours
per night! Also, polyphasic sleep is basically practiced by most other animals
and humans seem to be the exception by practicing monophasic sleep.
Why, oh Why?
I went to Syracuse for my undergraduate degree in
Architecture. Architecture programs are notorious for pushing students to
extremes and causing significant lack of sleep amongst them. This was not very
different with my experience. Most architects/architecture students wore their
lack of sleep like badges of honor. That’s a little crazy in my opinion but
here I am attempting a polyphasic sleep schedule so who am I to judge? But I
start with this because I became used to double days (40 awake hours with only
6-8 hours of sleep and no naps). This was sadly a regular habit during my
earlier years, so in comparison sleeping 4-5 hours each night actually sounded
better than that experience so it didn’t seem as intimidating.
In addition to feeling like I was already groomed for sleep
deprivation, there are a few other appeals to me with this sleep experiment. I
often don’t recall my dreams when I awake, but this pattern encourages dream recall
as well as lucid dreaming. Also, despite much of my skill at not sleeping at
all, I am surprisingly not very good with short naps. I have read on other
similar blogs that during the experiment and following it napping effectively
became easier and more significant with regards to energy levels. It is also
believed that once over the initial hump of the transition period into
Polyphasic sleeping, that you may feel more alert and creative than someone
sleeping much more.
Perhaps I can find myself doing more of my creative projects
that I discussed earlier in all this free time I will have. I certainly have
enough time to write this blog post, which I may not have found time for
before. Some other blogging experimenters have said that there are side effects
of loneliness and lack of things to do to stay awake, but I believe I have
plenty to work on and that I also enjoy some alone time where I can focus and
work on things without interruptions. Only time will tell how all of this
effects me. I am excited to move forward with this and I am fortunate that at
this moment I have the flexible schedule that allows me to try it.
So far, I am almost 24 hours in and I like the extra time,
but I know that the first 1-2 weeks is the most difficult. I imagine it will be
similar to a long and dragged out version of jetlag. But I have always seemed
to have a good handle on jetlag. I often adjust very quickly. Again, this is
something that will likely come up as I go through day by day.
My Sleep Schedule
The following are the approximate times I will be sleeping
in Pacific Standard Time. Another advantage to this pattern versus some of the
more strict versions is that if I miss a nap or it gets shifted a little
forward or backward, it doesn’t seem to have the same devastating effects as it
would on a more regimented pattern.
REM Sleep: 3:00am-6:00am
Nap 1: 11:00am-11:30am
Nap 2: 4:30pm-5:00pm
Nap 3: 10:00pm-10:30pm
This pattern leaves me with 4 awake phases. My intentions
for those cycles are as follows:
Phase 1: 6:00am-11:00am – WORK/ERRANDS
Phase 2: 11:30am-4:30pm – SCHOOL
Phase 3: 5:00pm-10:00pm – FAMILY/FRIENDS
Phase 4: 10:30pm-3:00am – CREATIVE
These phases are mostly for weekdays and I have differentiated
them because it gives me purpose for each awake phase.
10 Commandments of my Everyman Pattern
For my own sake, I have come up with certain rules that I
intend to abide by so as not to become woefully unhealthy or mentally strained.
- I shall not eat during phase 4. Liquids only. If I eat here, I become a huge guy in no time.
- I shall not sacrifice health for this experiment. If I become sick, sleep is typically one of the best solutions and I will put this experiment on hold.
- I shall attempt to save more mentally active responsibilities for Phase 4. If I try to read during this phase, I have a feeling I will just end up falling asleep.
- I shall record as much of my cognitive changes as are known to me
- I shall record my dreams
- I shall make every effort to experience lucid dreaming
- I shall not let this become overbearing. I enjoy spending time out with friends and traveling and doing this that may last longer than 5 hours. The point of this experiment is not to stop doing those things for the sake of this pattern, but to do those things anyway and take note of how potentially difficult or not difficult it is to adjust.
- I shall not operate heavy machinery if I think I am too sleep-deprived to do so.
- I shall respect the sleeping patterns of those around me: primarily my wife Liz. If she is being significantly disrupted by my unorthodox habits than I need to adjust my pattern or consider giving it up.
- I shall be honest with my progress, or lack thereof.
Final comment
As crazy of an experiment as this may seem, I am someone who
enjoys learning through first-hand experience and I feel like there is a lot of
knowledge to be gained through this investigation even if it doesn’t become a
lifelong habit.
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